Between bare plywood walls run seven female figures, members of Ensemble 209, appearing suddenly and then disappearing with the slam of a door, moving along the stealthy line between reality and fiction. The background reveals their efforts in producing a play by Anton Chekhov – "The Cherry Orchard". The events onstage are entirely permeable to daily life through Israeli radio broadcasts played in real time to the exhibition space, a form of raw materials used by the seven performers in their work. Between the "theatre" of the radio station and the theatre on stage there exists a tension, the unease of two fabricated realities through which a complex image of daily Israel life emerges. The Ensemble creates a very physical world of stage, a place both visually and audially rich, existing in the gaps between theatre and reality, and between the private and collective existences. A digital clock on the ceiling juxtaposes the time of the fictitious event against that of concrete time, always on the alert for the next news bulletin.

 

A work by Guy Gutman and Ensemble 209

 

Year: 2008-12

Venue: Performance Art Platform, Central Bus Station, Tel Aviv

Participating artists: Vered Arni, Gina Ben david, Haya Bershinsky Segalis, Kineret Max, Tami Lebowitz, Yana Fridman, Tamar Kristisyashwili.